Our Work

What Do We Do?

Quite simply, we reduce waste and save lives, one bar of soap at a time.We receive donations of partially-used soap from hotels that would otherwise be discarded, and facilitate a process by which it is recycled into brand-new bars. The bars are then distributed by our NGO partners to people around the world at high risk of life-threatening illness due to poor sanitary conditions and inadequate hygiene practices.

Why Soap?

It saves lives! You might be surprised to learn that the leading causes of death for children globally are preventable diarrheal diseases, which claim more than 1.8 million lives each year. That’s nearly one-third of all child deaths. Handwashing with soap is the single most effective way to prevent those deaths.

Soap:

is more effective than vaccines, medications, or clean water initiatives alone in reducing morbidity rates

can, with proper handwashing techniques, reduce deaths from diarrheal diseases by more than 47%

Yet every day, hotels all over the world discard millions of bars of partially used soap, even bars that clients have used only once. This is wasteful and harmful to the environment, as tons of soap waste ends up in landfills. What’s more, that soap could be put in the hands of millions of children to save their lives… and that is exactly the mission of Global Soap!

Who Distributes the Soap?

We don’t just drop off soap and leave. Our goal is to ensure that once people receive soap, they have access to it for the rest of their lives. We partner with trusted global health organizations that have existing distribution channels and ongoing health programs in local communities. Proper handwashing techniques, especially when taught through hygiene programming, can change behaviors and help reduce unnecessary deaths.

This means helping them understand how to use it, why to use it, and why it is worth acquiring from local sources long-term. In other words, we create an immediate positive health impact that can be sustained for the rest of their lives while supporting local economies, and without creating dependence on us for free soap.

We also collect liquid soap in the form of amenity bottles (at least 80% full), and donate them to urban refugee centers—mainly near our headquarters in Rome,Italy—for distribution to their guests.